Harry's Father
by Widkama
Summary: Harry curiosity leads him to view a memory that completely uproots his world. Confused, he doesn't know if what he saw is fact or fiction. Will he believe what he saw, or will he take the path of denial? WIP
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This started out as a drabble, but there were so many requests to turn it into a story that I caved. I've written a few chapters for FB but I have now decided to share it with my FanFiction readers. The chapters are going to be short. It's a lot easier to get out short chapters than make everyone wait for longer ones. I don't completely know where this story is head, but I guess we'll all be going on that journey together.**

 **I hope you all enjoy. please let me know what you think.**

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Harry was in the potions classroom waiting for Professor Snape; tonight they were to have yet another occlumency lesson. No matter what Hermione thought, Harry was convinced that the more he tried, the worse he got.

He had seen the Pensive when he entered the room, but had tried his best to resist the urge to take a peek.

After several minutes of waiting for Snape to show, Harry finally gave in to temptation. He leaned over the Pensive and was sucked into the cloudy memory.

He was standing by a lake, seemingly alone. That is, until he heard two voices nearby.

"Severus, I can't do this, there is a war and you've landed on the wrong side of it."

"Lily, I can switch sides. I swear I will do anything I need to be with you."

Harry recognized the second voice. It belonged to Professor Snape. A moment later two people emerged from behind a cluster of trees. The first was Snape; though this was a much younger version of him. The second person, following close behind him, was Harry's mother, Lily. She looked just like she did in the pictures he had seen of her. Young, beautiful, dark red hair, and bright green eyes. Harry felt the need to run to her, but quickly remembered that she couldn't see him.

"Sev, it's not that easy, Voldemort knows you. If he ever found out about this, he would use it against you." Harry hadn't noticed at first, but she had been crying.

Professor Snape reached his arms out and wrapped Lily in a tight embrace. "Lily I cannot _not_ be in your life, both of your lives. I cannot give up my opportunity to be a father."

Lily shook her head, the tears flowing down her cheeks at a greater rate. "I can't Severus, I just…I can't worry that our child will be in danger because of your association with Voldemort."

Severus's hold tightened around Lily. "So then, what do we do?"

Lily took a step back and looked into Severus's eyes. "We do the only thing we can. We make everyone believe the baby belongs to someone else."

"You mean James Potter, don't you?" Snape's voice hardened. He released Lily and turned to face away from her.

Lily maneuvered to stand back in front of him and rested her hands on either side of his face. "James knows I love you, and he knows that I wish to only be with you. He's willing to help because he cares about me, but he knows there will never be a romantic relationship between us." She tilted his face until he was looking at her. "This will only be until Voldemort is killed. Once he is gone we can be together."

Snape took Lily's hands into his own and pulled her back into his arms. "I swear to you Lily I will do everything in my power to bring us back together as a family." He placed a hand upon her abdomen, "You, me, and Harry."

Harry felt a yank on his body and found he was being pulled out of the memory. When he caught his balance he looked up and came face-to-face with Professor Severus Snape, his…father.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay so I won't be updating this story every day, but I just wanted to get this next chapter out to everyone. Since the chapters are so short, I am hoping to update weekly or bi-weekly.**

 **Let me know how you like the story so far. Thank you for reading.**

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Before Severus had a chance to speak, Harry ran across the classroom and was out the door.

Severus knew exactly which memory Harry Potter had just witnessed. It was the memory he had watched every night since Lily's death. He had tortured himself for years with the unlived fantasy of a family that he and Lily had planned.

She had been so certain that they would make it through the war; that they would be together in the end. It broke his heart at how wrong she was.

He had always hoped that Harry would one day find out the truth, but not like this.

Harry had grown up for that last 15 years believing his father was James Potter only to see a memory that contradicted it all. No one wanted to believe that what they knew to be true was actually a lie.

Yes, Harry was his son. He and Lily had reconciled during their 7th year at Hogwarts. While she hated what side of the war he had been on, she understood that he had dug himself so deep he could no longer get out. Voldemort had promoted him to the top of his ranks, and had he tried to switch sides he would certainly have been eliminated.

Lily talked Severus into making arrangements with Dumbledore to work as a double agent. Dumbledore, while unsure at first, gave Severus the job as Potion Master and Head of House for Slytherin. Severus had convinced Voldemort that he was working at Hogwarts to gain intel on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. This seemed to please Voldemort, putting Severus in the position where he was almost undoubtedly trusted.

Of course, Severus and Lily had to hide their relationship. Even though he _had_ reformed, word could not get out about it for the chance of it getting back to Voldemort.

Severus had to live like he was still supporting the dark side. Lily seemed to be able to tolerate this. She was understanding when Severus had to leave her suddenly or had not shown up at one of their meetings so he could be at Voldemort's side.

When they met, they made sure to never meet at the same place twice within a month's time, and they set the meet time sporadically as possible; there were many times they met long before the sun rose. It was best to meet at the oddest of hours to ensure that no one from either side caught them. They had to be careful. If one wrong person found out they could both have ended up dead.

A little over a year after they graduated from Hogwarts, Lily found out she was pregnant. Severus was ready to take her and run away. He wanted to keep her safe from the war, and wanted to have a proper family. Lily convinced him it would not work. There was no were to hide from Voldemort. That was when she came up with her ill-fated plan. He had never forgiven himself for not hiding her himself.

Severus had wanted to tell Harry, but not until the war was done. Not until his safety could be guaranteed. However, now that Harry had seen his memory, it was now time for Severus to talk to him.


	3. Chapter 3

No. No. No. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. Snape was _not_ his father.

Harry was practically sprinting, towards Gryffindor tower. He needed to get as far away from Snape and his warped memory as he possibly could.

Once in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, he stopped to catch his breath. It felt like he had held it the whole way from the dungeons.

When he could finally breathe again, he heard an impatient _Ehem_.

He looked up to find the Fat Lady looking down at him sourly. "Well, are you going to give me the password, or are you going to loiter in front of me all evening?"

Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He knew he was shite at hiding his emotions. It would take Hermione one look at him and she would know that something was wrong. And unfortunately, the boy's dormitories didn't have a 'no girl' charm on the staircase, so hiding in his room wasn't an option.

"Sugarquill," he said reluctantly when he had come to the conclusion that he had no other options. Curfew was fast approaching, and the last thing he wanted to add to this night was a loss of house points.

The Fat Lady's portrait swung open, and Harry made his way into the common room.

There were still quite a few students up. It was, after all, Friday night, and students tended to stay up until all hours of the night on the weekends.

Harry thought for a brief moment, when he didn't see either of his best friends idling around, that he could get away with heading straight to his without having to talk to anyone. Unfortunately, Ron and Hermione were both in there, waiting for him.

"Harry, you're back early," Hermione spoke first. "How was the occlumency training?" She must have seen the stress on his face because she immediately followed up her question before he could answer the first. "Harr, is everything alright? You look upset."

Ron followed Hermione's lead. "Did something happen with Snape tonight, mate?"

Harry _really_ wanted to confide in his friends, but he knew that if he told them what he saw they would think he was nuts. Well, Ron would think he was nuts, Hermione would lecture him on invading people's privacy, and then proceed to tell him that he probably misunderstood what he saw.

No, it was best if he kept it all to himself. He would share with them once he gathered more facts. "It was just a rough lesson," he lied, "I'm pretty beat and I think I just want to get some sleep."

The two nodded and quickly and quietly exited the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He climbed into his bed without changing clothes and looked at the picture on his side table. It was one of the pictures Hagrid had given him of his mother and father. Or was it?

Could there be a possibility that Snape was his father?

No. Everyone always said he looked like _James_. Everyone told him _James_ was his father. There was no way Snape could be his father. No way at all.

Right?


	4. Chapter 4

Severus was currently pacing in his classroom. He couldn't, for the life of him, keep still. He felt ashamed at how fidgety he was; like some teenaged girl.

He had been able to lie to the most powerful dark wizard of all time. He had been able to successfully fool the Death Eaters into believing he was a traitor to Dumbledore. He had faced monsters no one could ever imagine. But he couldn't approach his own son about his parentage.

Granted, Harry hadn't realized that he was his father until Friday, and knowing even a tiny bit about the boy, it could be assumed that he was denying the whole thing.

Severus had planned to seek him out over the weekend; however, he couldn't muster up the will, and instead passed the time grading copious amounts of subpar papers and lackluster potions. He hadn't even left the dungeons for anything but meals and even then, he ate fast and promptly returned to his office.

Of course, his behavior garnered no attention. The other professors at Hogwarts were used to his distant personality, and respected the fact that he wasn't the chatty sort. On rare occasions Dumbledore or McGonagall would make polite small talk with him, but they both knew how to keep it short.

Fortunately, he had no encounters with either the Professor or the Headmaster. While he hoped he could save face long enough to make it through a short exchange with a colleague, he wasn't certain he could. There was just too much on his mind.

He had to figure out what to do about Harry. He knew the boy would be resistant to the facts; he was hardheaded, just like him; and just like his mother.

Severus had to go about this carefully. He couldn't just expect him to believe that he was his father. Not when he had already gone through 15 years of teachers, parents, even strangers telling him he looked like James Potter.

No, he had to methodically plan how he was going to go about this. He could try to hold Harry back after class, but that would not give him enough time; not to explain all he needed to.

Maybe he should let the boy come to him. He had, after all, seen undeniable proof that his past may not be what he always thought. It was a considerable possibility that Harry would eventually come to him with questions. He would just have to wait.

Yes. He would wait, and when the time came, he would fill in the story for Harry. He knew it would take time before Harry was ready, but if he came of his own volition, he would be more open to hear what Severus had to say.

With that, Severus felt the weight on his shoulders lessen. He settled down at his desk and prepared for the morning class of insolent first years to arrive.


End file.
